Emma
by Jiggly Wess
Summary: Jo returns to Mount Thomas after 5 years to find things have changed...a lot.
1. Returning Home

Well i was searching through old files and found this one...so i decided to post it...Em this is for you..good old fashioned Jonesy/Tess stuff lol...oh and PJ/Jo too!

Title: Emma!

Disclaimer: Emma, Thomas, Rusty, Sarah, Isabelle & Mat are mine! I'm working on a plan to get the others! Hehehe!

Summary: read and find out!

Jo sat in the front seat of her car thinking. She looked over at her four-year-old daughter who was sleeping in the seat next to her. Their pet dog, little "Rusty" the Jack Russel pup, was lying on the back seat. She looked around at the scenery as she drove past. Memories started coming back to her as she drove closer to the town she once called home, Mt Thomas. As she got nearer to the town, the roads became more familiar and she recognised several different things. As she arrived in Mt Thomas it started getting lighter. The sun was coming up. She drove further and further into town until finally she arrived at her destination. She pulled her car into the car park of The Imperial, and memories started flooding back to her. She even felt a tear run down her cheek, but she realised that there was no time for reminiscing. She was there for a purpose. Her daughter stirred as Jo turned the car off. The sound of the engine stopping woke her up.

"Morning Sweetie." Jo said to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Morning Mummy. Are we there yet?"

"Yes we are. What do you say we go inside and get some breakfast?" Jo suggested.

"Yeah. Eggs?" her daughter asked.

"Sure. If that's what you want."

"Can we bring Rusty?"

"Well I don't think he'll like eggs very much." Jo laughed. "And I'm pretty sure they don't allow pets in the hotel…but we can tie him up outside." Jo replied and she unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car.

"But Mummy…he'll be all by himself." Her daughter who was holding the tiny puppy, rather tightly, followed her.

"Well I'll tell you what. We'll put him in his little box, then bring him in…that way he wont be able to run off."

"Okay Mummy.' Satisfied with Jo's suggestion, Emma placed the puppy into the carrier, then they walked into the pub and Jo led her daughter over to the bar.

"Ok so why don't you go and find yourself a seat and I'll take Rusty and get us some breakfast." Jo suggested.

"Ok Mummy." The little girl replied. Jo gave her a kiss and she ran over and sat at a table.

"Hello?" Jo asked over the counter, placing the puppy onto the ground by her feet.

"I'll be there in a second." A voice came from the kitchen. Then a few seconds later a middle-aged woman with red hair came out.

"Can I help you?" She asked looking at a tea towel then she lifted up her head and screamed. "Jo! What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Hey Chrissie." Jo replied.

"If I'd have known you were coming I would have made you something special."

"Yeah well I didn't even know I was coming until the last minute. I see things have changed a little since I left."

"Yeah well five years is a long time." Chris replied. "Any way let me get you some breakfast. Anything you want. It's on the house."

"Thanks Chris. I'll have one serve of bacon and eggs and one serve of just eggs on toast." Jo told her.

"Wow. Eating big today."

"Well actually…" Jo started. Her daughter running up to her cut her off.

"Mummy, Mummy can I take Rusty out?"

"No sweetie I don't think that's a good idea."

"Well. Well. Well. What do we have here?" Chris asked.

"Can we please? I want to show him to the little boy."

"Well…I'm not sure if they allow pets in here." Jo told her daughter.

"What pet?" Chris asked, not being able to see the puppy.

Jo bent down and grabbed the puppy out of his box.

"Chris this is Rusty. And this little treasure here is Emma."

"Is she…?" Chris asked.

"Yep. All mine. Emma this is my old friend Chris. The one I was telling you about the other day." Jo told her. Emma grabbed hold of Jo's leg and hid behind her.

"Hey sweetie. It's ok." Jo said and she picked the little girl up and put her onto the bar.

"Down Mummy. Down." Emma cried. Jo put her on the ground and she ran off chasing the little dog. She was running past the stairs when she ran into a man who was coming down the stairs.

"Whoa there kiddo. Where'd you come from?" He asked.

"I came from Adelaide with my mummy and my puppy." Emma replied.

"Oh really. And where's your mummy now?" the man asked.

"She's over dere talking to Cwis." Emma replied. "What's your name?" Emma asked.

"My name's Evan. But you can call me Jonesy. What's your's?" The man replied.

"My name's Emma. Do you wive here?" Emma asked.

"Well no. Now how about we go and find your Mummy." Jonesy said. He grabbed the puppy that was sniffing at his leg and then he grabbed hold of Emma's hand with his free one. Emma led him over to the bar where Chris and Jo were 'catching up'.

"Mummy!" Emma cried and she let go of Jonesy's hand and ran up to Jo, who then picked her up.

"Hello Munchkin." Jo said and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm not Munchkin. I'm Emma."

"Ok Emma. So where have you been?" Jo asked.

"Talking to the man who just came down the stairs." Emma told Jo as she put her onto the bar.

"Now Emma what have I told you about talking to strangers?" Jo warned her.

"Sowy Mummy. But he's really nice. He helped me to find Rusty." Emma replied.

"Did he. Well where is he now?" Jo asked.

"Behind you." Emma replied. Jo turned around and when Jonesy saw who it was he put the puppy down and pulled her into a hug.

"Jo!" He cried.

"Hey." Jo replied and she pulled away. Then when she realised who was hugging her she gasped.

"Wow. Jonesy look at you." She cried and she hugged him.

"You've changed." Jonesy told her.

"So have you." She replied noting the goatee he had grown.

"Yeah well five years is a long time." Jonesy replied.

"Tell me about it." Jo muttered.

"So I see you've extended your family." He said and they both took seats at the bar, Jo pulling Emma onto her lap as she did so.

"Yeah. This is my little baby girl." Jo replied.

"I am not a baby. I'll be five in two days."

"Sorry Em." Jo said using her nickname.

"That's ok. I fogive you." Emma replied and she kissed her mum on the cheek.

"So what brings you back to Mt Thomas?" Jonesy asked.

"Well actually I've come to see if I could get my old job back. It didn't work out for me back in Adelaide." Jo replied with a frown.

"Oh. Well do you have a place to stay?"

"Actually no I don't." Jo replied.

"Well I have a spare room at my place." Jonesy replied.

"Oh yeah. I thought you lived here." Jo looked shocked.

"Nah I've got a place just around the corner. I came in to check something out for Chris."

"Oh. So does that mean you've found yourself a flat mate?" Jo asked curiously.

"Well actually…"

"Daddy!" a little boy about the same age as Emma ran up to Jonesy.

"Hey squirt." Jonesy said.

"Who are you?" The little boy asked Jo.

"Thomas, this is Jo and her daughter Emma. Jo, Emma, this is Thomas. My son." Jonesy introduced them.

"Hello Thomas."

"Thomas why don't you and Emma go and play." Jonesy suggested.

"Yeah." Thomas replied. "I'll show you my secret place." Thomas cried and he grabbed hold of Emma's hand and led her out of the room.

"Since when did you have a son?" Jo asked.

"Well you see…" He was cut off again. Only this time it was by a woman a few years older than Jo who walked in wheeling a pram.

"Hey Jonesy have you seen…" She stopped when she saw Jo.

"Jo?" The woman asked.

"Tess!" Jo cried. She stood up and gave Tess a hug.

"I haven't seen you for a long time."

"Five years." Jo corrected her.

"Oh that long. Hey Honey." Tess said and she gave Jonesy a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey did you two…?"

"Yep. Two years ago." Tess replied and she showed Jo the ring.

"Wow it's gorgeous. And who's this little one?" Jo asked when she saw the baby in the pram.

"This is Isabelle Rose." Jonesy replied and he lifted a baby out of the pram.

"She's so cute. How old is she?" Jo asked.

"8 months." Tess replied and she took her from Jonesy.

"She's pretty big for 8 months. When Emma was 8 months she was tiny." Jo told Tess.

"Who's Emma?" Tess asked. And a few seconds after a little girl came running into the room followed closely by Thomas.

Jo picked Emma up and placed her on her lap. Jonesy did the same with Thomas.

"This is Emma. Emma this is one of my other friends Tess."

"Nice to meet you." Emma said and she stuck out her hand. Tess took the tiny hand in hers and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too." Tess replied. "So what brings you two to Mt Thomas?" Tess asked.

"Well actually I was hoping that I could get my old Job back." Jo replied.

"Well I'll have to see what I can do. Come down to the station later and I'll have a word to the Inspector for you." Tess replied.

"Oh. Does that mean…?" Jo searched Tess's police uniform for the nametag. "Senior Sergeant. Nice going." She added.

"Yeah well when Tom left they decided it would be best if I could take his place instead of getting someone new in." Tess explained. "So I got the job, and we've got two new Constables."

"Oh and who else is there?" Jo asked.

"Well we've got Ben still, he refuses to leave. Mainly because if he did he wouldn't have been promoted to Sergeant." Tess told her and the three of them laughed. It felt good for Jo to be back where she belonged. With her old friends and colleagues.

"And well we've got in Sarah Kennedy. She's the new Prob. who took your place. But I suppose we could get her transferred to Melbourne. I mean she isn't really a country girl anyway. Then we've got Matthew Roberts. He's one of the Constables. And then there's PJ. He's well… he's still with us."

"Just." Jonesy added.

"Yeah but we're surviving. Why don't you pop down to the station this arvo and we'll sort things out then? But for now I have to get Thomas to school and Isabelle to Day care. Bye Honey." Tess said and she gave Jonesy a kiss on the cheek. The she put Isabelle back into her pram and took hold of Thomas's hand.

"See you this arvo." Jo said to her as she walked out of the pub.

"Bye Thomas." Emma yelled.

"Well I guess I had better get going now too." Jo said. "I've still got to organise a place to stay and there's someone I want Em to meet." Jo told Jonesy.

"Well like I said. We've got a spare room at our place for you and Em. Just come with me down to the station and I'll organise something. But for now I have to get to work."

"Ok well I'll see you this arvo. Em and me still have to eat brekkie. Say goodbye to Jonesy Em."

"Bye, bye Jonesy." Emma said and she hugged his legs.

"I'll see you later. Ah you might be wanting this back." He handed Emma the puppy.

"Fankyou." Emma said and she cuddled the puppy.

"That's ok. Bye guys." Jonesy called as he walked out of the pub.

"He seems like a nice guy." Emma said.

"Em. Where did you get that from?" Jo asked.

"From Passions."

"Gees I'd better stop watching day time soaps. If that's what it's doing to you." Jo laughed.

"What's funny Mummy?" Emma asked.

"Never mind. It's nothing for you to worry about. Now how about those eggs?" Jo asked and she and Emma headed for the bar.

Not a very great ending I know but I need some more ideas. I'll finish it off later. Hope you like it. Jess!


	2. Daddy?

Part 2

Jo and Emma walked into the station later that afternoon. The second Jo walked in she noticed that several things had changed. The place had been repainted and there were flowers and all sorts of other decorative things all over the place. Jo looked around and she immediately recognised three faces. Jonesy, Ben and Tess. When Ben saw her he jumped up.

"Jo." Ben hugged her. "And who's this little one"

"This is Emma…" Jo laughed, knowing that Ben was kidding.

"Really? She's grown so much. I hardly recognize her." Ben smiled.

"Hewwo Unkie Ben." Emma yawned.

"Give us a hug!" Ben bent down and opened his arms and Emma grabbed hold of his neck. He pickled her up and hugged her tightly.

"Can we talk?" Jo asked Ben.

"Sure. Come on. Let's go outside." The walked out and sat on the bench next to the wall.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back here?" Ben asked.

"It was sort of a last minute thing. I…I'll explain later."

"Does PJ know…?"

"About what? The fact that I took off when I was pregnant with his daughter…or the fact that I've come back here 5 years later?" Jo sighed.

"Jo…"

"Yeah I know. I'm stupid. But Emma wanted to know why she didn't have a Daddy…I didn't know what to tell her Ben…" Jo started crying. "I'm so stupid."

"Jo it's alright. You'll be fine."

"What if he doesn't like her Ben? What is she doesn't like him?"

"Well…I know for a fact that PJ loves you. So much…he has spent the last five years moping…trying to figure out why you left."

"Because I found him in bed with his ex girlfriend…that's why."

"Yeah well…that part I cant explain…but he does love you."

"I shouldn't have come back here…"

"No you should. We've all missed you. And I am glad you're back. You're one of my best mates…and those visits we got once every few months really weren't enough."

"I know. But every time you came everyone got suspicious. If they knew you were visiting me…"

"I know. I could have been in serious trouble…but I couldn't stay away. You needed my help. I'm just sorry that everything didn't turn out for you."

"It's alright. I like it better here than in Melbourne anyway. I don't like the city much."

Jo laughed.

"I've missed you."

"Me too."

"Mummy…when can I see Daddy?"

"Umm…when do you want to see him?"

"Can I see him now?"

"Well I'll tell you what. You stay here with Uncle Ben for a few minutes. Maybe he might be able to get you something to eat?" Jo suggested. "And I'll go and talk to your daddy."

"Okay Mummy." Emma turned to Ben. "Unkie Ben can we pway hide and go seek?"

"Oh I don't think that's a good idea. There are too many places you can hide where I can't find you."

"Oh…well can we play chasey instead?" Emma asked.

"Okay." Ben smiled and stood up. "Good luck Jo. If things get ugly…come and get me."

"Okay." Jo smiled and kissed his cheek, then slowly walked into the office.

"Is PJ…?" She said to Tess.

"In his office. Where he usually is." Tess replied. "Good luck."

"Yeah…thanks." Jo gulped and walked over to PJ's office. She looked back at Tess and Jonesy and they nodded so she knocked on the door.

"It's open." PJ replied. Jo almost burst into tears at the sound of his voice. Jo opened the door and slowly stepped inside. PJ was sitting at his desk, looking down at some paperwork.

"Hey have you brought in that report that was supposed to be handed in last…." He looked up and when he saw Jo his jaw dropped.

"Hi." She smiled and waved nervously.

"Umm…Jo…Hi…what are you doing here?"

"I err…well the thing is…there's someone I want you to meet…only we need to talk first. I'm sure you've got lots of questions to ask…but that can be done later. Right now I need to tell you something…something you should have been told in the first place. You have a daughter…" Jo blurted out.

"What…what do you mean I…?"

"Shh…let me talk right now. I know you're wondering where I've been for the past five years. Everyone is. But right now I can't talk about that. Right now I've got to talk to you about your daughter. When I left here 5 years ago I was pregnant. I was so happy, I was going to tell you…but then something happened. And I had to leave. I wanted so badly to talk to you. I wanted to share the great news with you…but I wasn't able too…and in time I will tell you why. But for now you just have to trust me when I say that I am really sorry for everything that has happened. I love you so much PJ…and if I could go back and change things I would. But I cant. What's done is done. The only thing that is important right now is that you get to know your daughter. Her name is Emma Jacinta Parrish-Hasham…she's the most gorgeous thing that I have ever seen and I love her so much. Ever since she could talk she's been asking about you. And I've wanted to tell her so much about you…but I couldn't. There was something stopping me, something I couldn't help. But that's in the past now…and she's here, safe with me…and we're going to be staying in your life. It's your choice whether or not you forgive me…but please just don't take it out on Emma…she loves you so much…even though she's never met you. And all she wants to do right now is get to know her Daddy…so if you can just see past all the bad things that happened in the past…I'll bring Emma in to meet you. But you have to promise me first, that no matter what happens you will never break Emma's heart…if I bring her in here, then there is no turning back…you cant walk out of her life…she wont be able to handle it…"

"Jo…"

"No PJ…all I want to hear right now is that you'll say you will see Emma. Get to know your daughter…for your sake and hers." Jo gulped back tears.

"I…I…" PJ looked away. "I'll do it." He closed his eyes and bit his lip.

"Are you sure…because I will never forgive you if you break her heart."

"I wont…I promise." He looked up at Jo and smiled.

"I'll be right back." She said and she left the office. PJ took a deep breath and sighed. Then a few seconds later Jo returned…and following behind her were Emma and Ben.

"Emma…this is your Daddy." Jo smiled nervously as Ben and Emma stepped into the room.

Well there ya go…another chapter…would make it longer but I've gotta dash…I've got work to do…bubye!

Jiggly Wess


End file.
